Katangese Tigers

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The Katangese Tigers or the Tigres [1] are Katangese fighters.

The term originally referred to ex-members of the Katangese Gendarmerie who refused to surrender after the State of Katanga's collapse in 1963. These former soldiers fled to Angola in the 1960s. They formed a rebel group, the Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC), in the 1970s. [2] However, the FLNC was unsuccessful in overthrowing Zaire's government or retaking Katanga, and consequently fractured. Several FLNC fighters and ex-gendarmes made peace with Zaire's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and joined his security forces. [3] Afterwards, the term "Katangese Tigers" was used to refer to Katangese militants who continued to oppose Mobutu; these fought alongside the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo in the First Congo War. [1] After Mobutu's overthrow, these "Tigers" then became an elite force within the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, loyal to President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 Abbott 2014, pp. 34–35.
  2. Abbott 2014, pp. 21–23.
  3. Abbott 2014, p. 34.
  4. Abbott 2014, p. 36.

Sources